Lost Simplicity
by Weirdnessextreme13
Summary: She used to be friends with everybody, yet nobody, but now she was surrounded by a tight knit class. As Ryuunosuke smiles at her from across the room, she thinks that her life maybe isn't so hard after all' /or/ Rinka struggles through her first two year of Junior High, mostly spent in the hospital/Hayami Rinka centric


'She used to be friends with everybody, yet nobody, but now she was surrounded by a tight knit class. As Ryonsuke smiles at her from across the room, she thinks that her life maybe isn't so hard after all' /or/ Rinka struggles through her first two years of Junior High, mostly spent in the hospital/Hayami Rinka centric

(T ^ T)

 **Authors note:**

 **Well, I started writing this on a whim because I'm trash but oh well. It's mostly just me having fun with one of my OTP's in Assassination Classroom :3**

 **I hope you like it? It hasn't be edited properly yet.**

 **DISCLAIMER** : No I don't own Assassination classroom...(If I did there would be several pairings in there that would be cannon...)

 **Edited: October 12 (Ryuunosuke's name corrected and some gramatical fixes :P)**

*********#**********

Her life used to be simple, back in elementary school.

Rinka didn't have a specific group she was in, but everyone was kind to her and she was friends with everybody.

She could talk to boys without everyone being weird about it, and it was OK to laugh with the other gender or with people who weren't as good-looking as the rest of her class.

Liking cats wasn't something weird. When she walked home with her several varying friends, all of who welcomed her, and didn't mock her for nearly going ballistic when there was a cat nearby, especially a kitten. Although some of them didn't like cats, they didn't openly show their discomfort and only watched as Rinka and the others played with the cat.

Rinka remembers that when she read the newspaper at the table, her father used to pat her on the head and call her smart, and her mother used to love driving her to and from modern jazz class, and how she used to encourage her to dance and dance. How her younger sister used to smile brightly enough to light up Rinka's own smile and how the two girls had been thick as thieves.

When did her life get so hard?

She thinks this over.

Elementary Year 5 is the best answer she can come up with.

Halfway through the second trimester, everyone suddenly changed. Like puberty, somewhat. Everyone in class was in different maturity levels and girls and boys were split into two, and Rinka suddenly wasn't allowed to be friends with everyone. She could only be in one group.

Normally, that would be all fine, but with her bright smiles and interesting, albeit strange wording of her sentences and random facts she sprouted, caused her to be fought over by the girls.

All their groups wanted her.

Rinka struggled. She wanted to be friends with everyone, but they all insisted that she couldn't. She could only choose one group. Because she couldn't, they made her a class outcast. No one spoke to her for two years, or more like four and a half trimesters. Her once-bright smiles grew dimmer and faker, until they slid off her face entirely and she stopped speaking randomly and went silent, unless spoken too.

It just happened that with her leftover time, she studied and studied and got accepted into Kunugigaoka Junior High.

The letter came in the summer, a week after Rinka gladly said goodbye, for good, to her elementary school class.

Her parents had been ecstatic when they heard. They threw her a party, and gave her presents, called her their precious little girl.

The night after that, Rinka woke up to her younger sister's cries of pain.

Rinka rubbed her sister's back. Asked her what was wrong. As the younger girl opened her mouth to reply, she suddenly vomited blood all over the herself and the floor.

*********#**********

Rinka first met Chiba by accident.

She was in the hospital, the same night she woke up to her sister's moans and cries of pain, maybe an hour or five after she had rushed the younger girl over. Her parents were inside her younger sister's ward then, but Rinka wasn't allowed in; only two people at a time. So here she was, in the bright, whitewashed room that passed as a hospital waiting room. There were loads of chairs. That's all she noticed. There were also lots of potted plants and a very loud clock.

"Excuse me," a voice startled her. Looking up, Rinka's voice suddenly caught in her throat.

It's a nurse. Would she be thrown out? She had been sitting here quietly, but what if it broke some kind of code of conduct?

"That boy over there…you look his age," the nurse said. Rinka turned and looked to where she was pointing. A lone boy stood at the side of the room, a solitary figure casting a long shadow against the blinding white walls of the room. He was definitely taller than her, she could see that from here, but his back was facing her, so she only saw sort-of long, ink black hair half covered by a knitted beanie. Rinka nodded at the nurse to indicate that, yes, they looked around the same age.

"Could you be a darling and go talk to him?" The nurse asked. "He's been standing there since late afternoon."

Late afternoon?!

It was four a.m.!

Rinka nodded, stood, walked toward the boy.

"Hello?" She asked.

He didn't say anything.

She didn't know what to say, so she started with the basics.

"My name is Hayami Rinka. Could I ask yours?"

Silence.

"I don't think you're alright," Rinka told him. "So I'm not going to ask if you are." The boy didn't say a word, but Rinka could tell he was interested now. "But I've heard you've been here since the afternoon. Late afternoon. So you must have been standing here for around twelve hours."

He twitched slightly.

"Are you hungry?"

He shrugged noncommittally.

"Well the hospital food is pretty bad," she said. "From what I've heard. But if I have access to a kitchen, I'll try to whip up something edible. If I manage, will you eat it?"

The boy turned and stared at her, and Rinka got a good look at his face. The boy had black hair, darker up close than from afar, long bangs that just about covered his reddish-brown eyes and a completely emotionless expression, one that probably matched her own.

"I know I'm a stranger, but I can be concerned for your wellbeing too," she told him and turned around, looking for the nurse. Whether he followed her was up to him.

*********#**********

"You know your way around a kitchen well," the boy said as she stir-fried some cabbage with rice.

"Not well enough," Rinka sprinkled some salt. "Frankly, I'm amazed a hospital as such had a break room with working gas and a wok."

"I'm amazed that a girl my age can cook," the boy replied.

"I told you my name," Rinka tasted the fried rice, frowning. "It's only fair you return the favour."

"Life isn't fair, Hayami Rinka," the boy mumbled softly, so softly she almost didn't hear.

"Life is what we make it," she replied bitterly, serving the stir-fried rice. "If life is unfair, try living yours by fair terms."

The boy didn't reply but pulled a plate of the stir-fried rice to him and tasted it.

They both ate in silence.

"Chiba," the boy finally spoke up, after a long time, in which Rinka finished her meal. "You can call me Chiba."

"Surname or given name?" Rinka asked.

"Surname."

"You can call me whichever," Rinka told him, and cleared away her plate. Sitting opposite Chiba, she watched him as he ate.

"It's really good," Chiba smiled.

"Thank you."

"I'll call you Hayami. I don't think I can call you by your given name, we just met."

"Makes sense."

"Yeah," Chiba passed her his dirty plate.

Smiling slightly, Rinka took his plate and walked over to the sink. Picking up a sponge, she begun to swath soap over it. "So why are you in the hospital?"

"Maybe I'll tell you another day," Chiba replied.

"I'll tell you why I'm here?" She offered.

"I want to forget, though," Chiba admitted. "I want to forget why I had to come here."

"Then I'll help," Rinka supplied. "My sister told me a story once, when she was six. It took eleven days for her to finish, told in fragmented parts. Let's go back to the waiting room, I'll tell it to you, Chiba-kun."

She didn't want to admit that she wanted to forget as well, since she didn't know what was wrong with her sister.

Rinka remembered that her parents finally left the ward when the early morning sunshine shone into the room from the glass doors.

She recalled that she had been sitting opposite Chiba, telling the story of that a six-year-old mind had concocted in her twelve-year-old maturity. He had been listening, looking intrigued. She didn't know how she knew he was interested, since he showed as little, if not less, emotion as she did. Maybe it was because they were similar, but Rinka digressed.

*********#**********

"You can go and see her now," Her parents told her.

Rinka's hands fisted the material of her shirt.

"Want me to come with?" Chiba asked.

Wordlessly, she nodded.

*********#**********

Fast forward to the first year of junior high school, a month or so after the hospital incident.

Rinka started attending junior high. After her younger sister was moved to another ward in the hospital, since she had a rare strain of stomach cancer that they had never seen before, and they wanted to study her, Rinka swore up and down that she wouldn't whine or complain anymore. After meeting Chiba, she had learnt that everyone has a reason as to why they do things, and someone else could be having a harder time that she was.

Although she told Chiba that her sister was discharged, and would therefore have no need to go to the hospital anymore, he didn't question it when she visited the hospital him.

Even when she remained in the hospital a long time after he leaves.

"Rinka-chan!" A hand grabbed her arm, preventing her from leaving the classroom.

Turning, Rinka saw one of her classmates, Kurahashi Hinano, beaming at her. "Do you want to hang out after school today?"

Smiling slightly, Rinka shook her head. "I'm sorry, I would love too, but I already made plans with another friend of mine."

"Really? That's too bad," Hinano made a face. "Can I come too, Rinka-chan?"

Rinka hesitated. "I'll have to ask my friend," she grudgingly told her.

"Hayami," speak of the devil. Turning around, she saw Chiba standing awkwardly in front of her. "If you don't want to go today, it's alright."

"No, no," she shook her head. "I don't mind."

Hinano cleared her throat.

Right. Rinka gestured to Hinano. "This is Kurahashi-san. My classmate."

"How rude!" Hinano exclaimed. "I thought we were friends, Rinka-chan!"

"Uh…" Chiba tilted his head slightly. Recently, he had grown his bangs out, so that they covered his reddish-brown eyes. "I'm Chiba Ryuunosuke, from class 1B."

Rinka herself was from class 1C. Although, if she thought about it, it was the first time she had heard his given name.

"Thank you for taking care of Hayami," Chiba bowed.

"Likewise!" Hinano chirped.

 _What's going on?_ He was asking silently.

 _She wants to come along,_ she shrugged.

"Ah," Chiba nodded. "I don't mind. Have you told her where we're going, Hayami?"

Rinka shook her head.

"Where are we going, Rinka-chan?" Hinano inquired.

"Hospital," Chiba replied.

"Oh," Hinano's eyes grew wide. "Oh...I don't think it's in my place to-"

"It's fine," Chiba and Rinka said at the same time, before exchanging looks. "It's alright."

"All the same, I think I'll leave you two to it! I wouldn't want to intrude!" Waving, Hinano disappeared back into the classroom.

"Let's go, then."

*********#**********

"Hayami-san, I'm so sorry, but could you please help me compile all the English notes? I've heard you're very organized," a classmate of Rinka's begged.

Nodding, Rinka accepted the exercise book passed to her, as well as the mess of notes. As she rejoined the conversation with Hinano and her other friends, Okano Hinata and Kataoka Megu, another person tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hayami-san, could you please do my part for the project?" A member of her group for her social studies project smiled sheepishly at her. "I'm really busy today."

Rinka nodded, then faced her friends again, only for someone else to call her name. Closing her eyes, she counted up to five before turning around.

It's lunch break, but she was already getting requests.

"Oh, Hayami-san, could you-"

"Do it yourself!" Megu snapped.

Rinka started slightly at Megu's harsh tone.

"Stop exploiting her!" Hinata shouted at the poor person.

"It's alright," Rinka twisted her fingers together under the table. "I..."

"Um, Physics...could you help me out in physics?" The person blundered.

Rinka nodded. "I'm free Friday evening."

"Alright!"

"You hate physics, Rinkacchi," Hinata pointed out, a frown on her face.

Rinka shrugged. "I'll just read up more so that I can help that person out," she mumbled, picking at her food. She had had to make her own bento that morning, and hadn't known until five minutes before she had to leave for school. So Rinka had dumped some rice into the box and some leftovers from last night, cold, soggy vegetables, but other than that, there isn't much inside.

"Ehh, that's a sad bento," Hinano shook her head, before perking up. "Here, have some!" The cheerful girl swiftly placed some fried octopus sausages and carrot balls inside Rinka's disappointing bento box.

"Thank you," Rinka smiled.

"Rinka, you shouldn't let people exploit you," Megu scolded.

"You don't know what they could be going through, though," Rinka pointed out. "It could be a hard time."

"Or they could just be picking off your brains," Hinata waved her chopsticks.

"Definately that," Megu agreed.

Rinka didn't reply.

"Hayami-san? Could you maybe..."

*********#**********

She transitioned into her second year, with rapidly nosediving grades.

"Rinka, come here," her mother called her from her bedroom.

Rinka took a deep breath before walking over to the living room.

Her mother was there, a scowl on her face. Her father sat next to her, looking defeated and annoyed.

"You should work harder. D's and C's on every subject...what happened to my intelligent little girl?"

Rinka didn't reply.

"And even when you don't have club activities, you're hanging out with boys and going out with your friends?" Her mother's tone is harsh. "What is up with you? Do you think this is funny?"

Rinka swallowed.

"Your younger sister may not be in the best condition, but it's not as though we're neglecting you! We speak to you plenty! Is this some kind of attention seeking attempt?"

"No..."

Not in the best condition? Her younger sister was sick beyond comprehension.

"Then what is it? You're spending your time playing around, I've heard you talking on the phone at night. What are you doing?!"

Rinka covered her eyes with her hands.

She was doing her best.

"I'm sorry..."

"You better improve by next year!"

*********#**********

Improve by next year, huh?

*********#**********

"Sorry, I have to clear up the club room first."

"It's fine. I'll wait," Rinka stood at the door of the music room, watching as Chiba grabbed a dustpan and a broom.

"You know what? I'll help," Grabbing the duster, Rinka began wiping the whiteboard. "Don't they know you have to go somewhere right after club?"

"I don't know," Although she couldn't see him, she imagined that his eyebrows knitted together. "I guess they don't."

"Why don't you refuse?" She asked stupidly.

"For the same reason why you let people exploit you, I suppose."

The duster slid from her hands, clattering to the ground with a loud noise.

"Hayami?"

 _Are you ok?_

"It's nothing."

*********#**********

It's two a.m. in the morning, and Rinka was in the hospital.

They had just left the hospital room when Chiba punched the wall.

Rinka didn't know what to do. He had called her here, after all.

He punched the wall again, and Rinka let him. She waited until he was done throttling the wall before holding out her hand.

"Let me see," She told him.

Chiba turned to her. His bangs covered his eyes and, as always, she was slightly bothered about that.

"It's fine," he mumbled.

"It's a brick wall," Rinka replied simply, taking his wrist gently. Looking over his splintered knuckles, she sighed. "You don't want to worry her," Rinka gestured to the ward.

Chiba covered his face with his other hand.

"You can cry, you know?" Rinka let her instincts take over. His hand was warm when she intwined their fingers together. Reaching out, she lightly ghosted her hand over his cheek.

"I can't. I promised myself I wouldn't," he whispered.

Rinka reached out and wrapped her arms around Chiba's neck.

Slowly, he leant down and pressed his face into her shoulder. They probably looked pretty strange, since he was so much taller than her.

"I won't cry, you know," he said softly. There was no wet spot on her shoulder, so she knew that he wasn't lying. All the same, Chiba's breathing was shaky and he seemed upset. Rinka ran her fingers through his hair, trying to comfort him.

"I'll cry for you," Rinka murmured, and felt tears welling up in her eyes, and they slipped down her cheeks like a leaking tap. She didn't make a sound as she cried. After a bit, Chiba sighed.

"I don't know why you're so calm," his breathing grew more and more ragged.

"I'm not calm," she whispered.

"Hayami, you don't understand, you know?" His voice is growing in volume. "Your sister got discharged, and she's all fine and dandy now," Rinka didn't tell him otherwise, that her sister was actually no where near fine. "While my cousin is lying in that room and hasn't woken up."

"Chiba."

"Hayami," Chiba swallowed and it was amplified by the fact that his face is so near her ear. "I don't think she's going to wake up."

"Don't think like that."

"You don't get it."

"Stop or you're going to say something you'll regret," Rinka removed her hands from his hair and took hold of his hands, rubbing circles into the back of them with her thumb. Tears were still running down her face. "She'll wake up."

"You don't know that."

"You have to believe she will, because you have to try your hardest to wake her," Rinka squeezed his hands. "You have to try your hardest, or else."

"I can't bring myself to believe it. It's just so much easier for you, Hayami-"

"Stop. You're going to say something that is the painful truth, and while it's true, I won't be able to stomach it so stop."

"I don't want to lose you," Chiba said softly. Now she could feel tears staining her shoulder. Smiling slightly, she relinquished her grip on his hands and wrapped her arms around his neck again. "I didn't want to lose her either."

"Don't cry. You're breaking your promise," she scolded him. Wet tears were pouring down her face now, like a waterfall. "I'll cry for you." She said again.

*********#**********

In class, she tutored and helped and wrote down and copied notes and made mind maps and helped and helped and helped and helped other people until she wanted to scream.

Rinka was beginning to feel that Hinata and Megu had been right, that people were picking on her non-existent brains.

She was falling further and further behind her own studies as she tried to keep others afloat.

Rinka spent her afternoons, now that it was winter, participating in club activities, then going to the hospital with Chiba, to visit his cousin, who was in a coma. From a car accident, he had finally told her. He had been in the car too. She would stay in the hospital long after he left, going to visit her younger sister in the ICU unit, where doctors were studying her.

Rinka rarely slept anymore. She spent her nights writing notes and studying up things so that she could tutor people. In the early morning, around four, Chiba would always text her, because he had this nightmare. Rinka couldn't speak to her friends much anymore, either, because lunch time was spent with her napping on her desk.

"You're going to explode, Rinkacchi," Hinata told her one day. "Or faint."

"I can't," Rinka replied tiredly.

"You look horrible."

"I don't particularly mind, maybe my parents will stop worrying about me eloping at my age."

That made Hinata crack a smile. "All the same, you should take it easy. I sometimes see that that boy from Class B coming in to check on you at lunch."

"OK." Take it easy? She couldn't.

She forgot the conversation within a day, but the words remain in her head.

 _Take it easy._

But when Megu invited Hinata, Hinano and her to clock her swimming, Rinka still went.

*********#**********

"Hayami."

Rinka was stumbling down the halls behind her two friends, on the way to the pool, and didn't hear the voice behind her. Her ears were ringing.

"Hayami," Everyone in the hallway was staring in surprise at something behind her. This Rinka could tell, but she was to tired to check what it was.

"Rinka-chan," Hinano waved a hand in front of Rinka's face.

"I'm fine," Rinka smiled and forced herself to walk faster so that she would be keeping pace with her friends.

"Hayami!"

"Someone's calling you, Rinkacchi," Hinata poked her.

"Huh?"

"Rinka!"

Rinka blinked hazily at the sound of her name, before turning around. "Yeah, someone's calling me," She agreed.

"Rinka," a pair of hands set themselves on her shoulder. Dark spots danced in Rinka's vision and she blinked to clear it.

"Ah, Chiba."

Chiba was panting heavily, looking like he had just ran a marathon. "I had to chase after you."

Rinka's too tired to find the hidden meaning. "I'm sorry."

He stared at her, probably surprised that she hadn't read between the lines. Was he surprised? She couldn't tell.

Rinka's mind was so foggy. She only registered that she didn't want to worry him.

"You have to take care of yourself," Rinka flicked his forehead. I'm fine, I'm fine, she chanted in her head. Act like you normally would. "Your classmates are working you to the bone, right?"

"...I've heard that yours have been working you too."

"Don't be ridiculous." She couldn't remember any such incidents.

Rinka heard Hinata snort behind her.

"Nothing I can't handle," She rolled her eyes. Maybe they've been asking her for a lot.

Chiba's hands slide down so that he's gripping her forearms.

"You're swaying," he said. Rinka thought she heard concern, but she wasn't sure. Her head was swimming, now, and everything sounded like it was underwater.

"I'm fine," she took a few deep breaths and immediately felt better. "Do you want to come, Chiba? We're going to watch Megu."

"You should go rest."

"I'm _fine_." It comes out harsher than expected. She's fine. She is, really.

"Rinka..."

"Why are calling me by my given name?" Rinka asked, just because that was seriously distracting her, underwater head and all.

"You can call me Ryuunosuke, if it bothers you."

"No, it doesn't," she sighed.

"You need to rest."

"I'm _fine,_ Ryuunosuke."

And that ends the argument, though Chiba...Ryuunosuke insisted that he would accompany them to the pool.

*********#**********

"There! Megu's swimming!" Hinano called excitedly, pointing at a figure in the pool, cutting through the water as smoothly as a fish. The stood at the edge of the pool, watching as Megu completely trashed her opponents.

"Megu!" Hinata waved excitedly.

"Gambatte, Megu!" Hinano shouted when she saw the person racing against their friend.

Rinka smiled and opened her mouth to shout when she suddenly felt faint. Stumbling, she collided with Chi...Ryuunosuke.

"Steady," He whispered unnecessary as he gripped her arms. He probably knew that she couldn't muddle through anything right now. Sighing, Rinka closed her eyes for a little bit as he released her.

Dimly, she heard a loud splash and a scream. Someone was shouting too.

Did something happen?

*********#**********

"Rinka!"

"Rinkacchi!

"Aneki!"

"Rinka-chan!"

"Rinka!"

Slowly, Rinka opened her eyes.

"Aneki!" Thin arms flung themselves around her and a heavy weight landed on her lap.

Ouch.

"You're hurting her," A familiar voice chided. Ryuunosuke.

Ouch. The weight suddenly went away.

"I'll do what I want to my Aneki, Ryuu-nii," Rinka recognized the voice of her younger sister.

"You're Rinkacchi's younger sister?" Hinata. It must be Hinata. No one else called her 'Rinkacchi'.

"Yes! Are you Aneki's friends?"

"Yeah!" Hinano, it must be. The voice was cheerful, albeit slightly shaky

Her vision was blurred, so she could only make out vague blobs of colours.

"Chiba-sama? Is there a Chiba-sama here?" A nurse, the voice is one of a nurses at the hospital Rinka usually goes to.

"That would be this guy," It's Megu's voice.

Megu should be practicing swimming.

What's going on?

"Yes?" Ryuunosuke asked.

"Ah, the patient in ward 307 woke up. They want to see you," The nurse explained.

307? That was...

"My cousin?" Ryuunosuke sounded confused. Rinka tried to lift her hand, so that she could help, but she can't move.

His cousin?

"Seems so," the nurse cheerfully replied. "She wants to see you."

She woke up?

That was good...

There was silence in the room.

"We'll stay with Rinka, so you don't need to worry. It's been four hours, anyway. Well into the night, now," Megu said gently.

Night? Was it night? Rinka's head didn't feel underwater anymore, but it was nowhere near clear.

"OK," Ryuunosuke said haltingly.

 _Please don't go._

Rinka couldn't say a thing.

 _Sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up,_ she couldn't move. Rinka was tired, so tired. _Please don't go..._

She hears a door shut faintly.

"That boy..." Hinano said. "He and Rinka-chan have been friends for how long, Hayami-imoto-chan?"

"Just call me Hayami-tan!" Her younger sister happily told her friends.

"Alright!" Hinano's tone is just as cheerful.

"But why is Aneki in the hospital?"

"She's been overworking herself," Hinata replied, sounding bitter. "The people in our class keep getting her to do stuff for them."

"Does Ryuu-nii do that too?" Her younger sister asked.

"Ryuu-nii?"

"That guy who just left. Does he get Aneki to do stuff for him?"

"They usually go to the hospital after school together," Hinano said slowly.

"He and Rinka get along well," Megu admitted.

"Yeah! Aneki mentions him a bunch when she talks about school with me, but she mentions you guys more. Hinano-nee, Hinata-nee and Megu-nee!"

"So how long have she and...and your Ryuu-nii known each other?"

"A year or two. When Aneki was in summer of year six."

"Only?" Megu and Hinata exclaimed.

"You want to know a secret?" Her younger sister asked, and Rinka could see a blur of pale yellow bouncing up and down. "I want Aneki to remains friends with Ryuu-nii. He's very handsome. When I grow up, I want to marry him, if he and Aneki aren't married first."

Rinka somehow found the strength to sit up.

"A-Aneki!"

"Rinka!"

"Rinka-chan!"

"Rinkacchi!"

Rinka blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes until the blurs became people.

"Ah, are you better now?" She asked her younger sister, who looked guilty.

"Y-yeah! The doctors finished studying me, came up with an antibiotic, and now I'm a-OK!" The younger girl beamed.

"That's good," Rinka glanced at her other friends. "Thank you for watching over me..." She started hesitantly.

"No problem!" Hinano chirped.

Climbing out of the bed, that she now saw was a hospital bed, Rinka gathered her things.

"I'll tell mother and father that you're better, so you best return to your ward," Rinka told her younger sister, patting her head. "Let's go," she gestured for her friends to leave.

"Whoa, whoa! Cut!" Hinata scowled, holding her hands up in a 'stop' sign. "If you're going to march out of here, just after you collapsed-"

"I'll take better care of myself," Rinka lied. "Now that my sister is better, I'll have more time for school. I'll probably even manage to bring my grades up."

"Really?" Megu asked dubiously.

Was it her imagination or did Megu sound... _disappointed_?

"Yes."

*********#**********

The end of Rinka's third trimester of her second year was marked by a notice given to her.

'CLASS CHANGE NOTICE'

The words on the sheet of paper glared at Rinka and she glared back with as much anger as she could muster over her crushing disappointment.

Shit.

Shit.

 _Shit!_

At the end of the school day, when her friends tried to approach her to speak to her, she brushed them off, grabbing her bag and darting out of the classroom.

"Rinka?" Ryuunosuke stopped her just at the shoe lockers.

 _What's wrong?_ Was what he was _really_ asking.

"Please, just...don't," Rinka shook him off and dashed out of the school.

*********#**********

 _Class Change Notice_

 _Miss Hayami Rinka of Class 2C, we regret to inform you that your grades are not up to the standard of that is acceptable in Kunugigaoka Junior High School._

 _As a result, you will be moving to Class 3E promptly at the beginning of your third year._

 _Sincerely,_

 _The board of Kunugigaoka Junior High_

 _Signed:_

 _Asano Gakuho_

*********#**********

"I thought I would find you here."

Rinka sat perfectly still. She was seated on a tall hill overlooking the town. Ryuunosuke soon walked up to her.

"Of course you would," Rinka snarled bitterly. They were on the exact same wavelength, of-freaking-course he knew where she would be.

"Your friends were all worried. It looks like they'll be transferring to the E class next year, and they wanted to say goodbye to you."

"What would be the point?" Rinka mumbled.

"You don't want to say goodbye?"

"I don't have to," she rummaged through her bag and shoved a crumpled sheet of paper into his hands, the notice.

The rustling of paper was heard as Ryuunosuke slowly eased it open.

"I guess I have to say goodbye to you," Admitting it hurt more than she could say. Ryuunosuke was smart. She didn't want to say goodbye to Ryuunosuke. "I don't want to, though."

"You don't have to," A crumpled-up paper dropped into her lap, but it wasn't hers.

Rinka didn't even need to open it. They _were_ on the same wavelength.

"You too?"

"Yeah."

Ryuunosuke sat down next to her.

Groaning, Rinka passed a hand over her eyes.

"I'm happy. That's so sick," she whispered.

"I'm actually sort of glad that you'll be in the E class too, does that make me a bad person?" Ryuunosuke said at the same time.

The two exchanged looks.

Rinka started laughing first, a rich sound that carried only as far as the wind let it, before Ryuunosuke joined in, his laugh deeper and richer.

They spent the next few hours on the hill telling each other random facts.

"I don't like Skiing as much as I like dancing."

"I like Japanese Punk better than I like the classical pieces we play in the light music club."

"My parents are going to go ballistic when they see my marks."

"Mine might cry."

"I think I might be happy in the E Class."

"I think I might make some new friends in there. Some of my classmates got knocked down too."

"I didn't think that Megu would be demoted."

"An Ikemen in my class got demoted too. Isogai Yuuma."

"My younger sister wants to marry you when she grows up."

"My cousin wants to meet you soon."

"My younger sister wants to marry you when she grows up if the two of us aren't married first."

"My cousin wants to meet you soon so that she can see how compatible we are."

"Hinano and Hinata and Megu think that I like you."

"Okajima has a crush on you, and whenever I tell him off, my friends think I like you."

*********#**********

At first, Class E was just as bad, or worse, as she imagined it.

The gloom in the air was practically visible, painting the small, badly ventilated, not to mention stuffy and smelly, room in dark grays and shadows.

She had sat quietly, letting her shoulder-length hair cover her face, in front of a small girl with thick braids and behind an English girl with long, blonde hair.

Rinka rarely hung out with anybody anymore, even though she still texted Ryuunosuke frequently.

Her mother had been livid, naturally, and was always yelling at her.

Then the moon exploded.

*********#**********

3E is surprisingly enjoyable.

She used to be friends with everybody, yet nobody, but now she was surrounded by a tight knit class. As Ryuunosuke smiles at her from across the field, holding a large gun, she thinks that her life maybe isn't so hard after all.

 _Life is what you make it, after all._

There is a yellow octopus of a teacher that's helping them study.

 _Aligning the crosshairs of the gun with the target, Rinka narrows her eyes._

Her grades have improved, thanks to said octopus and Bitch-sensei.

Though, when Hinano told her that her hair looked like Bitch-sensei's she had immediately changed it.

 _A split second before she fires, the target is jerked to the left._

The class is kind, and while Akabane Karma and Nakamura Rio enjoy teasing her and Ryuunosuke on their non-existent romantic relationship, they're all close, all the same.

Though, the octopus teacher likes to stalk her and Ryuunosuke when they hang out, sometimes accompanied by Karma and/or Rio.

 _She immediately adjusts the position of her own gun and quickly presses the trigger before the target can move again._

Although everyone _is_ training to be an assassin, and kill their homeroom teacher.

 _Bullseye._

But that's normal for her now.

 _From across the field Ryuunosuke grins at her. Pointing a finger gun at him, she pretends to shoot him in the heart._

~ Fin

* * *

 **All reviews are appreciated :P**

 **(Especially if it's constructive criticism, I really didn't know how to end it...)**

 **Thank you for reading this XD**


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